The belief that structural change providing for the representation of minority parents in urban school districts would improve educational services for their children has led to an emphasis on school-system controlled or affiliated channels for participation. This emphasis, based on assumptions about parent participation in suburban districts, has neglected the findings of suburban school studies that indicate the significance of community organizations in the articulation of educational interests and has diverted attention from the recent dilution of local school board authority. This paper relates the utilization of both institutional and independent community channels for the articulation of parent interests in a New York suburb and the results of some recent events in New York City involving the adoption of bilingual programs for Puerto Rican students. The analysis illustrates some of the structural similarities in both types of districts that inhibit parent participation in school-controlled channels and identifies some of the factors related to effective parent participation. Results indicate that reforms are initiated not by established local community groups but by extra-local interest groups. (Author)